...REGARDING ACCOMMODATING AND ADVISING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

First ask the student: “Do you have an Accommodation Letter from the Office of Disability Services?”

If No: Inform the student that all accommodation requests—whether due to a temporary or permanent physical impairment, learning disability, or medical condition--are to be made to the ODS (the Office of Disability Services). These requests must be substantiated by appropriate documentation and reviewed by Director Marni Jones, who is trained to examine disability-related documentation and determine eligibility for appropriate accommodations/academic adjustments.

If Yes: Arrange a time when you can meet privately to read the letter and discuss with the student which accommodations he or she is requesting for your class and how the requested accommodation(s) will be implemented. (For example, will you be able to provide a qualifying student with a distraction-reduced environment in a nearby room, or will you need to request a proctor?) Note that students may be eligible for an accommodation but not feel it is necessary in your course.

Along with the Accommodation Letter, students will have been given an "Accommodations Implementation" form (called "the Blue Form") and shown how to schedule any needed proctoring through Outlook. Following your discussion, indicate the accommodations that will and will not be implemented, along with any needs for a proctor or note-taker. After you have ensured that all fields are completed accurately, you and the student are both to sign the Blue Form. You should make copies for each of you. Please remind the student to return the form with this important information to the ODS Proctoring Center as soon as possible.

Accommodation Letters are intended for the semester for which they are dated. Students are to procure new Accommodation Letters and Blue Forms from ODS each new semester. Students who had accommodations in a previous semester are notified via email that they may pick up their accommodation packets from ODS beginning on the first day of classes.

No; it is rather likely that you will have students in your courses who choose not to disclose or seek accommodations for a disability, and that is their prerogative (see FAQ #5 for reasons why this may be the case). If, however, students seek accommodations, they must register through ODS. You may also have students struggling with an undiagnosed disability. Please note that Marni’s title is the Director of Learning Skills and Disability Services, so if students express learning-related challenges to you, or you suspect a possible learning disability, DO NOT SAY SO. Rather, send an email to the student (copying Marni Jones) recommending that he or she meet with "Dickinson's Director of Learning Skills, Marni Jones," and then send a separate email just to Marni informing her of the rationale for your referral.

Accommodations do not apply retroactively, and this is made clear to students with accommodations. Prior to the start of each semester, reminders are sent to students registered with ODS to schedule accommodation meetings with their professors and to pick up their accommodation letter packets as early in the semester as possible. Students also sign a form confirming their understanding of the process and implementation of accommodations. It is the student’s responsibility to schedule their accommodation planning meetings with professors in a timely manner.

Yes. There can be no deadline by which time students must inform professors of their eligibility for accommodations, other than making such requests in a “reasonable amount of time” (which, for test proctoring, Dickinson has deemed to be 5 working days before a quiz or exam).

There could be any number of reasons why a student may either not disclose a disability or not seek accommodations until later in the school year. These might include:

Fear of being judged less competent by professors or classmates

Desire to start college with a “clean slate”

Lack of awareness about their rights to have accommodations

Misperception that recommended accommodations would be mandatory

Misperception that accommodations would be “automatic” (if they already had accommodations in high school)

Lack of organizational skills (to take care of necessary arrangements in a timely manner)

Belief that, with age, they have “overcome” their disability, and that it will no longer impact their cognitive functioning

A late psycho-educational evaluation and diagnosis

If a student qualified as having a disability under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), makes a request to receive reasonable academic accommodations in a timely fashion (regardless of the reasons why the request was not made at the beginning of the semester), the college must comply.

Unless you have received sufficient notice of the accommodation to allow you an opportunity to implement the accommodation, you are not required to do so.

In this particular situation, the ability to implement the accommodation is based on whether you and/or Disability Services has received sufficient notice to implement the accommodation. Such a determination is often dependent on individual class circumstances. During their accommodations meeting, students with accommodations are required to read and sign a form confirming their understanding of their accommodations rights and responsibilities and they must agree to understanding that it is their responsibility to notify professors and ODS of any accommodation needs in a timely manner.

QUIZZES: Since quizzes are generally short in duration, the student should ideally take the quiz in the classroom during class time. If the student receives time-and-a-half (or double-time) you may give him/her the additional time by: (1) having the student come early to class to begin the quiz, (2) by giving the quiz at the end of class, and allowing him/her to stay later (or designing the quiz to take less time than is remaining), or (3) by collecting the quiz from the student during class when the time allotted for all students is complete, and then allowing the student the extended time to complete the quiz after class.

TESTS: When possible, professors should try to provide students with the accommodation of extended time themselves. If, for quizzes or exams, you are not able to accommodate the student with your time before or after class, and you need proctoring assistance from ODS, please indicate this on the student's "Blue Form." If this need arises later in the semester, please contact proctoring@dickinson.edu at least one week in advance to make arrangements for proctoring.

Begin by asking the student what he/she is comfortable with. Some students may actually feel more comfortable testing in the classroom for your class, others may prefer an isolated setting near you, and others might prefer to arrange proctoring through ODS. If you are able to provide the student with a distraction-reduced environment that is agreeable to you and the student, then please do so. If you need assistance from ODS, please ensure that this is indicated on the "Blue Form." If this need should arise mid-semester, please contact proctoring@dickinson.edu at least one week in advance to make arrangements for proctoring.

If you are not able to monitor the student’s use of a laptop during test time please contact Susan Frommer at proctoring@dickinson.edu so that a proctor and a computer can be reserved for the student in another location. Please note that the computers provided by ODS for testing do not have Internet access, and students taking an exam on a computer will be closely monitored. Again, as in the above FAQs, please make this request to Disability Services at least one week in advance.

Yes. Such accommodations are typically granted to students whose ability to take notes by hand are significantly impaired, such as a student with dysgraphia (a disorder that impairs the ability to form letters efficiently and legibly). Students with such an accommodation are to disengage their connectivity to the Internet during class, and may have this accommodation revoked if they are not compliant, or are not using their computer strictly for note-taking. Professors may also ask such students to sit off to the side of the room where they will less distracting to those behind them.

First, ask the student which (if any) aspect of the above accommodation he/she will be using. (Some students may be in need of the accommodation for certain classes but not others.)

Smart Pen: (View example) This pen is also a recording device that works with a specific type of notebook. When a student who is taking notes with a smart pen misses noting key information from a lecture, he or she can later simply tap on that section of notes with the pen and it will play back the audio that was recorded when those notes were written. Typically, a student using a smart pen will not need a note-taker but certain disabilities my warrant the need for both.

When a student is recording classes as an accommodation, the professor must announce, “This class may be recorded for accommodation purposes.” When the recording is occurring for purposes of an accommodation, the students in your class must be informed of that fact, but you do not need their consent.

Students with this accommodation who will be recording their classes are required to sign a document agreeing to each of the following:

If using a recording device for note-taking, I agree that recording classes is permissible solely to facilitate my note-taking accommodation and for no other purpose.

I agree to destroy my recording of any classes at the end of the semester. If my recording is for a class that I need to refer to in the future, I agree to destroy my recording at the completion of any courses that are dependent on this course.

I agree that I will not share, send, post, publish, make public, or duplicate any recordings without the written authorization of the recorded person(s).

I understand that failure to abide by these rules may render me liable to the professor and members of the class for breach of privacy and violation of copyright laws.

I further understand that failure to abide by these rules is considered a serious violation of Dickinson College Community Standards and subject to disciplinary action.

Be sure to look over each applicant’s notes and choose 1 note-taker based on the quality of those notes.

After you select a note-taker, send his or her name, the name of the class, the name of the recipient, and how the note-taker is taking notes to notes@dickinson.edu. A representative from ODS will contact and train the note-taker on how to scan and send notes to us, which we will then send to the recipient. You can send us the application either by interoffice mail, by scanning and sending it, or by having the chosen note-taker bring it to us. It is important to note that when a student is provided with a note-taker as an accommodation for a disability, the student receiving the accommodation must be present in class in order to receive the notes for that day. Note-taking as an accommodation does not replace attendance.

Please email notes@dickinson.edu if a student eligible for receiving supplemental notes is inexcusably absent from class.

Use of a calculator (or any accommodation/ modification) is appropriate only if its use does not lower the standards of a course. If the student is being tested for calculations or is required to know how to calculate a mathematical equation, then use of a calculator is not appropriate. If you believe an identified accommodation is not appropriate for your course, please contact Marni Jones immediately, so other arrangements can be made.

In advising, methods that guide students with disabilities away from particular courses or majors for which they are “otherwise qualified” are deemed discriminatory and are not a recommended practice. Keep in mind, however, that general requirements for the degree and the various courses of study offered at the college allow students to choose from a wide range of courses in order to complete their degree or major. Students with disabilities should be advised about the academic requirements for each course they are considering, so as to enable them to make the appropriate decision in their selection.Students should be provided with accurate, detailed information regarding course expectations before selecting a class or a major. Help students to match course selections with their strengths and interests.

For example, what if a student in a wheelchair cannot fit through a door, navigate a building, or the lab tables are too high?

If a student enrolled in your course notifies you that he/she is disabled and cannot get physical access to the classroom or building, or, if the student informs you that certain physical limitations exist in the classroom that prevent him/her from participating, please contact Marni Jones immediately. Section 504 and ADA do not require schools to physically alter historical buildings to accommodate students with disabilities; however, schools do need to provide access to courses and programs. If necessary, the physical location of a particular course may need to be moved to an accessible site. Also, if necessary, physical adjustments may need to be made to classroom equipment in order to allow access for an enrolled student with a physical limitation.

For example, let’s say it is an outdoor geology field trip, that includes climbing a mountain to obtain rock samples to examine in a lab, and I have a student in a wheelchair or who has a heart condition?

According to ADA AA and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, we may not prohibit students with disabilities from having access to a course or program. However, students with disabilities must also be “otherwise qualified” to take the class if he/she is to have any right to accommodations in the course or program. Thus, you should notify the student of any known course requirements and discuss any modification/accommodation that might be assistive, or any options that may be available so the student can meet the requirement.

For this example, consider such questions as these: Is the student being assessed on his/her ability to climb the mountain and extract rock samples? Or is the student being assessed on his/her knowledge in examining the rock samples? If the answer to the latter question is yes, then perhaps the student could attend the outdoor field trip without having to go up the mountain; meanwhile another student could gather the rock samples, and the student with a disability could examine the samples in the lab. If you are not sure of what to do in these situations, please call Marni Jones to assist you in the matter.

Some students may have a "reasonable flexibility regarding attendance" accommodation that indicates that the student “may miss, be late for, or need to leave early from class if necessitated by a medical condition.” Students with such an accommodation have medical conditions for which they cannot predict when flare-ups will occur, but such flare-ups would render the student unable to participate in class.

Students with severe medical conditions should discuss with their professor how this may impact class expectations with regards to attendance. Modification of an attendance policy is not automatically provided as an accommodation at Dickinson College; instead such issues are deferred to the specific faculty member involved since he/she is the one who sets the requirements and standards needed to complete the course. For this reason, students are instructed to sit down with faculty and devise (and record) a plan for the implementation of this accommodation. Requests for modification should be decided on a case-by-case basis and include how to address potentially missed critical lectures or discussions, as well as pop quizzes, tests, assignments and other graded work for the course.

Please feel free to contact Marni Jones if you have any uncertainty about how to implement this accommodation.

Some students may ask if there is an alternative to the foreign language requirement at Dickinson. For your reference, postsecondary institutions are not required to lower the standards of any course or program for students with disabilities, nor provide course substitutions. Although some colleges and universities offer alternatives for students whose ability to learn foreign languages is impaired, Dickinson College considers intermediate level mastery of a foreign language to be an essential component to a Dickinson education and a fundamental part of its commitment to prepare students for active roles in the global community after graduation. Consequently, no waiver of the foreign language requirement is available at Dickinson, nor the use of course substitutions to meet the language requirement. This point is publicized for the benefit of all prospective students and students of Dickinson College in the Academic Bulletin. A copy of the current version can be found on the *Requirements for the Degree* page of the Bulletin.

Dickinson will provide appropriate accommodations for students with disabilities to support their access to success in the foreign language curriculum, including encouragement of tutoring.

Students struggling with mastery of a foreign language should be advised that an alternative for them is to enroll in courses in American Sign Language. Such courses are not currently taught at Dickinson, but can be transferred in to fulfill the foreign language requirement. Students wishing to pursue this option should be directed to speak with Marni Jones and to learn more about How to Fulfill the Language Requirement using American Sign Language (ASL).

Yes! We encourage you to do so. Students are not required to inform you of their particular disabilities, so you may not know whether a student’s difficulty with organization may be due to an executive functioning deficit, AD/HD, a traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, or perhaps a co-morbidity with Asperger’s syndrome. Marni Jones is happy to provide you with assistance with strategies that may optimize an individual student’s participation and academic potential in your class.